“They looked at his identity card and shot him dead” Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire 13 provoking serious problems in the health centres. Hundreds of thousands of school-children and college students were also prevented from going to school following a call to civil disobedience launched by Alassane Ouattara by the end of December 2010 which led teachers working in the areas held by the FAFN to stop working. At the time of finalizing this report (i.e. 17 May 2011), the situation remained volatile notably in some regions in the west of the country where thousands of real or perceived supporters of Laurent Gbagbo were still being harassed in villages and forced to flee and live in the bush in life-threatening conditions. BOX 2. A POWER STRUGGLE AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF AN IDENTITY CRISIS The crisis that began in Côte d’Ivoire after the disputed election of November 2010, was the culmination of a power struggle between three men that has taken place over the last 20 years: former president Henri Konan Bédié, deposed after a military coup in 1999; Laurent Gbagbo, the outgoing president who led the country from 2000 to 2010; and Alassane Ouattara, recognised by the international community as the winner of the recent presidential election in November 2010. This power struggle has taken place in the context of a crisis of political legitimacy that began with the end of the authoritarian single party regime established since the independence of the country in 1960 by the country's first president, Félix Houphouët Boigny, who died in 1993. This political crisis was accompanied by an economic crisis and an identity crisis. The economic crisis dates from the fall in coffee and cocoa prices on the world markets at the end of the 1980s (Côte d’Ivoire is the world's biggest cocoa exporter) as well as a wave of business bankruptcies and mass dismissals. The impoverishment of the population led to inter-communal and sometimes xenophobic tensions that were exploited by some political and economic leaders to remain in power or to sideline opponents on the grounds that they were not "genuine" Ivorians. UUThe concept of "Ivoirité", a political weapon based on a fear of foreigners In the middle of the 1990s, some intellectuals close to the then President of the Republic, Henri Konan Bédié, developed a theory called "Ivoirité", which opposed "genuine" Ivorians against “non-indigenous” populations, commonly known as Dioulas. Depending on the circumstances, this term may describe anyone with a Muslim name or from the north of Côte d'Ivoire or other countries in the sub-region (Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Senegal, etc...). 6 The theory of “Ivoirité” seems to have been created by supporters of President Henri Konan Bédié, mainly in order to sideline one of his main rivals, Alassane Ouattara, considered to be a Burkina Faso national and deprive him of his right to run for president. This xenophobic discourse has been periodically repeated by some media close to those in power over the last 15 years, and depending on the circumstances, this has led to sporadic or sustained harassment, extortion and serious human rights violations and abuses against people with Muslim names. Index: AFR 31/002/2011 Amnesty International May 2011